Courts step up efficiency | VIDEO

INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana Chief Justice Randall Shepard said the fallout of the economic downturn shows in the state's courts, and he described steps the state's judicial branch is taking to do more with less.

Chief Justice Randall Shepard

INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana Chief Justice Randall Shepard said the fallout of the economic downturn shows in the state's courts, and he described steps the state's judicial branch is taking to do more with less.

During his annual State of the Judiciary speech Wednesday, Shepard, who has been chief justice for 22 years, said the judiciary has approached the recession as an opportunity to streamline and cut costs while providing more efficient services.

"The courtroom was thought of as a place of relative detachment from the hubbub in the rest of life," Shepard told a joint session of the Legislature. "In fact, the work courts do is intimately connected to all of society."

Shepard, an Evansville native and former Vanderburgh County Superior Court judge, did not mention directly the recent commission on local government reform that he co-chaired with former Gov. Joe Kernan, even though the lawmakers he addressed Wednesday will decide whether to adopt some of the reforms.

Instead, Shepard recounted what he considers recent successes in the state's courts. Among them were:

n Last year's move by the Legislature to transfer funding for child welfare services from local property taxes to the state level. He said the decision, which came as part of a massive property tax-relief law, was "the single largest financial commitment to the needs of troubled children in state history." He added it is "giving Indiana the chance to create a safety net for children that is better staffed, better coordinated and more purposeful than ever."

n New drug court programs that have helped substance abuse offenders transition successfully back into society.

There are now 29 drug courts in the state, including one in Tell City, Ind., Shepard said.

"Drug courts produce a lower re-offense rate, and drug courts produce a better employment rate for offenders, all at lower expense than other, more traditional penalties," the chief justice said.

"I promise you this," Shepard told lawmakers, "by summer Indiana will have trained more judges and pro-bono (free) lawyers and mediators to help people facing foreclosure than any other state in America."

"I was intrigued by the approach he took this year in terms of addressing how courts are impacted by changes in the economy — just like families, just like a Legislature, just like governors are — in terms of the approach they have to take to their jobs," Van Haaften said.

In the past, Shepard has used his State of the Judiciary speech as an opportunity to spell out new proposals for the state's court system. This year was a significant departure.

"He didn't really pitch any new ideas," Van Haaften said. "I think it was more of a situation of recognizing that as a government, we have to batten down the hatches, if you will."

Rep. Ralph Foley, R-Martinsville, an attorney and former deputy prosecutor, echoed those sentiments after Shepard's speech.

"Under this chief justice, the judiciary has always been responsive and proactive to meeting the issues of the day," Foley said.

Foley noted how far-reaching the recession's effects have become and said evidence of the economic downturn is clear in the courtroom.

"We are seeing defendants who never, never would have been likely to commit crime. We are seeing the impact on marriages and the stress that pulls them apart and having to find out how to provide for the children of those marriages. We are seeing it in the rise of bankruptcy, the loss of a home, the loss of a job and the difficulties of foreclosure," Foley said. "And the judiciary is responding the best way that they can."